It feels like life
by Noriann
Summary: "You've been travelling with him for six months, but you're still amazed by the Doctor. You love the way his long coat flaps around him as he bounces around with excitement. You love his chocolate eyes, young and sparkling yet impossibly old at the same time. You love the way he says clever, complicated things that no one but him can understand." A Tenth Doctor X Reader one-shot.


"So, where do you want to go?" the Doctor asks, hands already on the TARDIS console.

You think a bit. You've already seen faraway planets, the Ancient Greece, even the 51st century; where could you go now?

After a while, you finally say: "Surprise me!"

The Doctor beams at you. A wide smile spreading on his face, he enters some coordinates into the console.

"Allons-y!" he exclaims.

You watch him switch levers and press buttons, smiling. You've been travelling with him for six months, but you're still amazed by the Doctor. You love the way his long coat flaps around him as he bounces around with excitement. You love his chocolate eyes, young and sparkling yet impossibly old at the same time. You love the way he says clever, complicated things that no one but him can understand.

You love his bewitched – and bewitching – smile when he comes across something new and interesting (well, and often trying to destroy the universe, but where would be the fun if it wasn't the case?).

"Here we are!" the Doctor exclaims, interrupting your reverie.

With a smile, you hurry toward the TARDIS' door. Before opening, you turn to the Time Lord and say: "Allons-y!"

He laughs, as he always does when you use his favorite expression. Oh, how you love that sound! Especially when you're the one making him laugh. Your smile widens, and you open the door.

"Brr! It's freezing out there!" you exclaim as you take a step outside.

But you quickly forget the cold when you take a look at the landscape unfolding before you: white fields covered in sparkling snow, blue fir trees, tall mountains in the background... But the most impressive thing is the natural ice sculptures which glisten in the setting sun's light and take wonderful, ever-changing colors: violet, orange, pink, golden…

"It's… It's beautiful!" you breathe, amazed.

"Yeah, I love this place," the Doctor says, smiling. "I thought you might enjoy the sight."

"Of course I do!" you exclaim happily.

Turning back to him, you say: "Thank you so much, Doctor!"

Then, chuckling like a child on a Christmas morning, you decide to explore a bit this place. You venture between the blue fir trees, which have surprisingly soft needles, and walk toward the ice sculptures.

But you haven't taken three steps that the ground collapses under your feet, and you fall into a hole with a scream.

You hear the Doctor scream your name, just before feeling a sharp pain in your forehead – then, nothing.

* * *

You wake up all tied up to a tree. You're dizzy from both the shock you received and the cold, but you quickly recover. You take a look around, but see nothing than other trees. Whoever tied you up has gone. You pull on the ropes, trying to free yourself, but you're solidly bound; there's no way you can escape alone.

"Doctor?" you call. "Doctor?"

But no one answers you.

 _He will come_ , you think. _He always does_.

But time passes, and there's no sign of him. You're getting more and more worried. You hope that whoever got you didn't catch the Doctor, too.

"Doctor?" you call again.

You hear some noise in the bushes, to your left. You turn your head, relieved: "Doctor!"

But it isn't the Doctor who comes out of the bushes. It's a strange creature, humanoid but all covered in white fur and very small, about half the size of an average human being. It looks a bit like a huge stuffed-toy, but it holds a spear in one of its hands.

"Um, hello," you say. "Can you understand me?"

The creature jumps back in surprise when it hears your voice. It hisses and speaks quickly, but you don't understand what it's saying.

 _If only the Doctor was here!_ you think.

He would have known which species this creature was, and which language it spoke.

The creature sits down in front of you, still holding its spear. It doesn't look aggressive, more like… curious. You aren't afraid, but you hope the Doctor will come soon; you're numb because of the ropes and the cold, and it isn't getting any warmer. And the creature is making no move to set you free.

About ten minutes later, you hear a noise to your right, and another creature, taller and broader this one, comes out of the bushes. It is followed by…

"Doctor!" you exclaim.

The Time Lord hurries toward you and takes his sonic screwdriver. The device buzzes and glows with its usual blue light, and suddenly the ropes fall to the ground, and you're free.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor asks you, concerned.

"Yeah, mostly," you say. "How… how did you find me?"

"Oh, I talked to the chief of the Hoogars," he says while helping you to your feet. "Lovely fellows once you get to know them."

"I'll be more eager to believe that if they hadn't tied me up like that," you mumble.

The Doctor offers you a sheepish smile. "Well, they hadn't seen any human being before, you frightened them."

He suddenly frowns when he looks at your brow. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

You shake your head, and the motion stirs pain in your forehead.

"No," you answer with a grimace. "I just hit my head when I fell, earlier. I passed out, and I woke up here. They must have found me unconscious and tied me up."

"I'll take a look at that wound when we're back in the TARDIS," the Doctor says. "I don't think it's serious, but you never know."

He turns to the Hoogars, as the creatures seem to be called, and speaks to them in their own tongue. The Hoogars answer and bow before quickly disappearing into the bushes.

"Come on, let's go back the TARDIS," the Doctor says, grabbing your hand.

* * *

Half an hour later, you find yourself in the TARDIS' med bay, even though you told the Doctor your injury was nothing to worry about. He has insisted to have a look at it, and he looked so concerned that you finally complied.

He takes a damp towel and starts cleaning your wound. His gestures are soft and gentle. Once he's finished, he insists on running some tests, even though the wound is shallow and already closed up.

"I told you, I'm fine!" you protest.

You try to stand up but the Doctor gives you one of _these looks_ , and you sit back down with a sigh. You let him do whatever he thinks is necessary to make sure you're fine.

Finally, he sits down next to you.

"Everything's alright," he says. "It isn't a serious wound."

"I told you so!" you reply; but then you put your head on his shoulder and you whisper: "Thank you."

"Oh, you don't have to thank me," the Doctor answers lightly. "I wouldn't have let you there."

"I didn't mean that," you say. "I meant, thank you for everything. For taking me in your TARDIS, for the travels, for being you, for… everything, really."

The Time Lord looks at you, surprised.

"I should be the one saying thank you," he says after some hesitation. "Thank you for coming with me, and…"

He doesn't end his sentence. Instead, he grabs your hand and squeezes lightly. He opens his mouth as if to speak again, but he doesn't find the words.

Finally, he says: "Sorry. I'm not good at this. Finding words, telling how I feel."

"It's okay, I understand," you answer. "It's the same for me."

 _I love you but I've never found the courage to tell you._

You're wanting to tell him that, but you can't bring yourself to say it.

"Doctor, I –" you begin, but you stop in mid-sentence when you meet his dark brown eyes.

Only then do you realize how close the two of you are; your faces are merely inches apart.

You feel your cheeks grow hot as you stare into the Doctor's eyes. You could drown into those wonderful, chocolate orbs, and you wouldn't mind it. At all.

Acting on instinct, you cup the Time Lord's face with your hand. His skin is cool and smooth under your fingers. When you realize what you're actually doing, you're totally blushing and you want to remove your hand; but the Doctor suddenly leans in and his lips touch yours, light as a feather.

That single touch sends shivers run all along your backbone. The Doctor is kissing you!

You've dreamt of this so often, you can't believe it is actually happening. Immediately, you kiss him back, a bit shyly first but the kiss quickly becomes more passionate.

When you finally pull apart, you're breathing hard, and the Doctor's cheeks have taken a nice shade of pink. You stroke his hair and you whisper:

"I love you."

The Doctor smiles, almost shyly, but he doesn't answer; instead, he kisses you again.

His lips taste of warmth and of chocolate.

It feels like travelling further than you've ever been.

It feels like home.

It feels like life.

 _I love you._

* * *

So here's a little one-shot I wrote while waiting for inspiration to come back for my other stories.

I hope you like it!


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